Teen pleads guilty for Armada false terrorism threat

An 18-year-old man admitted to threatening his employer over twitter.com, in hopes of gaining special youth status that will allow the conviction to be erased from his record.

Alexander D. Rosario of Riley Township pleaded guilty Friday to making a false threat of terrorism for a series of threatening tweets in January against his employer, a Subway sandwich shop in Armada. The offense is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

His sentencing is scheduled for May 14 by Judge Richard Caretti of Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.

Rosario will seek status under the state Holmes Youthful Trainee Act in which the conviction will be removed from his public record if he complies with probation conditions, which could include serving time in the HYTA prison.

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Rosario’s co-attorney, Matthew Abdo, said his client realizes his actions were wrong and wants another chance without a record. HYTA, for defendants aged 17 through 20, requires the offender to plead guilty.

“We want to preserve his opportunity to get youth status and get this horrible terrorism charge off of his record,” Abdo said after the plea.

He believes Rosario should qualify for HYTA due to his “positive characteristics and family support.”

Rosario was a student at Armada Continuing Education but was expelled prior to the threats for possession of narcotics paraphernalia. Rosario, who is on house arrest on a tether, is attempting to complete his school work to graduate this year.

Abdo said many people in the community are “upset” that Rosario is charged with such a severe crime.

“(But) we’re not trying to minimize the charge,” he said. “He’s fully cognizant that he never should have taken those actions.”

Rosario on Jan. 8 posted several threatening remarks on twitter, such as, “I want to bring a gun with me to work and shoot everybody that walks in.” Police said that put employees in fear.

He was arrested by Armada police on Jan. 25 and was held in the Macomb County Jail until Feb. 22, three days after Caretti reduced his bond from $500,000 cash or surety to $100,000 cash or surety. Sanborn Bails Bonds posted $25,000 for his release.

An assistant Macomb prosecutor handling the case could not be immediately reached for comment.

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My beat is the courts of Macomb County and general assignment.
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